At Brandeis, Carter Responds to Critics

By PAM BELLUCK; Katie Zezima contributed reporting.

Published: January 24, 2007

In his first major public speech about his controversial book ''Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid,'' former President Jimmy Carter told an audience at Brandeis University that he stood by the book and its title, that he apologized for what he called an ''improper and stupid'' sentence in the book and that he had been disturbed by accusations that he was anti-Semitic.

Although controversy had preceded his visit here, Mr. Carter was greeted with a standing ovation and treated with obvious respect by the audience, even as students asked questions that were critical of his assertions.

''This is the first time that I've ever been called a liar and a bigot and an anti-Semite and a coward and a plagiarist,'' Mr. Carter told the crowd of about 1,700 at Brandeis, a nonsectarian university founded by American Jews, where about half the students are Jewish. ''This is hurting me.''

He added, ''The fact that they deteriorate into ad hominem attacks on my character has probably been a greater barrier to progress than the fact that I chose a particular word in the title.''

Mr. Carter said he realized his use of the word ''apartheid'' ''has caused great concern in the Jewish community.'' He said he used it ''knowing that it would be provocative.'' He said he intended to describe conditions not in Israel but in the occupied Palestinian territories, and did not mean to ''equate Zionism with racism,'' but to point out ''that this cruel oppression is contrary to the tenets of the Jewish religious faith and contrary to the basic principles of the state of Israel.''

But he said a sentence in which he seemed to suggest that Palestinians would not have to end their suicide bombings and acts of terrorism until Israel withdraws from the territories ''was worded in a completely improper and stupid way,'' adding, ''I have written my publisher to change that sentence immediately. I apologize to you personally, to everyone here.''

While many students and professors said they disagreed with elements of the book, they said they welcomed the opportunity to hear Mr. Carter.

''I'm happy to have a contrary viewpoint, I'm happy to have a former president, I'm happy to have controversy,'' said Daniele Kohn, 21, a fine arts major, who asked Mr. Carter why, in a television interview, he had seemed to suggest that the Palestinian condition was worse than the Rwandan genocide. (Mr. Carter responded that he had not meant to suggest that.) ''I think this school hasn't gotten publicly upset in far too long.''

Mr. Carter's book has prompted criticism from many American Jews and some Middle East experts, who say it contains factual errors and misrepresents the role of both the Israelis and the Palestinians. In addition to the word apartheid, with its implication that Israel's actions resemble the racist policies of South Africa, these critics object to Mr. Carter's assertion that Israel has committed human rights abuses against the Palestinians, that pro-Israel lobbyists have stifled debate in the United States and that American newspaper editorials are overwhelmingly pro-Israel.

The book prompted the resignations of 14 of Atlanta's business and civic leaders from the Carter Center's advisory board. Kenneth W. Stein, a professor at Emory University who was the first executive director at the Carter Center, resigned his position as a fellow there in December. And Dennis Ross, a former envoy to the Middle East who is now a news analyst, has accused Mr. Carter of using maps that Mr. Ross created without his permission, and mislabeling them in the book, accusations Mr. Carter has denied.

Mr. Carter initially rejected an invitation to speak at Brandeis because it suggested that he debate Alan M. Dershowitz, a Harvard law professor who has sharply criticized the book. Wanting the university to welcome contrary views, more than 100 students and faculty members signed a petition contending that Mr. Carter should be invited without conditions. Questions were pre-selected by the committee that invited Mr. Carter, and the questioners included an Israeli student and a Palestinian student.

After Mr. Carter left, Mr. Dershowitz spoke in the same gymnasium, saying that the former president oversimplified the situation and that his conciliatory and sensible-sounding speech at Brandeis belied his words in some other interviews.

''There are two different Jimmy Carters,'' Mr. Dershowitz said. ''You heard the Brandeis Jimmy Carter today and he was terrific. I support almost everything he said. But if you listen to the Al Jazeera Jimmy Carter, you'll hear a very different perspective.''

Mr. Carter started his Brandeis speech by calling it ''the most exciting invitation'' he had received since his inaugural address 30 years ago, and enumerating his years of pro-Jewish stances and involvement in the Middle East peace process.

Responding to one of the criticisms of him, he said ''I have never claimed or believed that American Jews control the news media. That is ridiculous to claim.'' He said ''a lot of support for Israel comes from Christians like me who have been taught since they were 3 years old to honor and protect God's chosen people from whom came people like our Christian savior, Jesus Christ.''

But he said he believed there was too little willingness in Congress and elsewhere to debate or accept his premise that ''Israel will never find peace until it is willing to withdraw from its neighbors' land and permit the Palestinians to exercise their basic human and political rights.''

Despite the warm and dignified welcome, several students said they were disturbed by the book and Mr. Carter's conclusions.

''He did some great work in the past,'' said David Kuperstein, a junior, but ''it has made me a little bit angry, the unfounded skew and bias that he specifically shows in his book toward Israel.''

Photos: Former President Jimmy Carter acknowledging an audience at Brandeis University, where he spoke yesterday about his new book on the Middle East. With him on stage was Mari Fitzduff, a Brandeis professor. (Photo by Jodi Hilton for The New York Times); Demonstrators on the Brandeis campus yesterday expressed their opposition to Mr. Carter's book, ''Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.'' Critics have said the book contains errors and misrepresentations. (Photo by Adam Hunger/Reuters)